Fireworks
by garyprestons
Summary: This is university!fic, and my personal headcanon as to why Miranda and Gary never tried dating up until they ran into one another again in the pilot.
1. Chapter 1

"Happy New Year!"

Gary's flat was filled with raucous cheers as the clock struck midnight. All around him, his friends embraced, kissed, and clinked glasses of champagne and bottles of beer together.

His flatmates hugged him (weird) but they were at that point well into the second bottle of cheap champagne. He figured it was probably the last party they would throw at their flat, anyway. In six months, if everything went as planned, they would graduate university and go their separate ways.

He felt a hand on his arm and turned his head to see Miranda standing next to him watching the festivities. She was wearing a black dress he'd never seen her in before, heels — also a first — and, strangely, a stetson on her head.

Half of the invited guests had interpreted "fancy dress" as "wear something nicer than jeans" and the other half thought it meant "costume party!" Miranda had stolen the stetson off of one of his best mates earlier, and apparently had refused to return it.

Her cheeks were flushed and he wasn't sure if it was the dancing, the three glasses of champagne he'd seen her drink, or the excitement, but she looked absolutely adorable.

It was actually not a huge secret between him and his flatmates that he fancied her. And as graduation day loomed closer, he was becoming more desperate to tell her.

"Happy New Year!" she said cheerfully, interrupting his frantically wandering thoughts. She clinked her glass against his and then leaned in.

She got him halfway between his lips and his cheek, but she was hugging him with her free arm and he could feel her breath against his skin for a moment before she pulled away and raised her glass in a mock salute.

He lost track of her after that — he got swept away by the food and watching the fireworks from the window.

It wasn't until much later, after everyone else had left and he and Nick were filling a bin bag with empty cans and bottles that he noticed she was helping clean up.

He went over to her and took the empty champagne bottle from her.

"Hey, you're a guest. You don't have to stick around and clean up," he said.

She grinned at him, and he could tell she was properly tipsy.

"I helped make the mess!" she admitted. "Only fair." She was still wearing the ridiculous hat, and he noticed she was wobbling slightly in her heels, which gave her a few inches' advantage over him. He took her hand and walked her over to the sofa.

"Here, just sit for a sec before you fall over," Gary said with a laugh.

Too late.

They went crashing down on the sofa together, Gary half on top of her and Miranda giggling hysterically. It was infectious and before long he was laughing just as hard,

As they quieted down, he realized how close they were, how neither had moved. How she smelled nice, like flowery perfume and the shampoo she used. How he noticed little things like that about her.

Her eyes were bright and glassy, and her smile so happy. Impulsively, he leaned in to close the small distance between them and kiss her. Her gasp of surprise was cut off by his mouth covering hers. Her fingers curled into his forearms, pulling him fully down on top of her.

He was so focused on how it felt to kiss her that he only faintly heard Nick say "Finally!" and then their laughter as his flatmates mercifully buggered off to their rooms for the night.

Miranda's hands moved into his hair as they snogged, and his own were gripping the fabric of her dress as he held her close.

When he pulled away to catch his breath, she looked shell-shocked but pleased. After a moment she pushed herself upright so that she was sitting next to him, her head on his shoulder.

"I… Sorry. I shouldn't have sprung that on you so suddenly," he apologised. She didn't reply, merely nuzzled her cheek against him.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking. We graduate this year and I'm not sure if we're going to be able to see each other as much as we do now. And I'd hate to lose you once we're out of here, Miranda. I've never actually said it like this to you, but the truth is… I really fancy you."

Gary paused, but only for a moment. The adrenaline was rushing through him, albeit helped by the alcohol.

"You're really important to me. And I want you still to be part of my life even if we end up doing completely different things after uni."

He listened to her breathing for a second before continuing.

"So. What I'm proposing is — it's a new year. Let's give us a go and… see what happens."

He held his breath and waited for a reply, a kiss, anything, but she was silent.

When he bravely glanced downward, her eyes were closed, her chest rising and falling. She was asleep.

"Brilliant," he muttered aloud to himself, and she immediately stirred against him.

"Oh my god, sorry! Nodded off there," she said with a yawn. "What were you saying?"

Gary sighed, disappointed in himself that his courage had just as quickly vanished, and gently kissed her on the forehead.

"Happy New Year, Miranda."


	2. Chapter 2

Gary wasn't sure how long they sat there together on the sofa, Miranda's head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest. Her fingers slowly toyed with one of the buttons on his dress shirt he was wearing. (at least _he_ had interpreted fancy dress the way it had been meant to be done; after all he'd been the one to draw the short straw and had to call everyone with the invite.) Her eyes were once again closed, her hair brushing against his neck when she curled into his side and yawned.

It was with difficulty that he managed to find his voice; they hadn't spoken since he'd opened his stupid mouth and blurted out his feelings out while she'd been asleep.

"Hey, it's late. You should stay here, and I'll walk you home in the morning," he offered. She nodded against him before slowly getting to her feet. He rose as well, wrapping his arm securely around her waist to steady her. She was rather giggly as she clutched at the hand on her hip, leaning heavily against him as they walked to his closed bedroom door. He held it open for her before going over to his dresser to find her a shirt to sleep in.

Finding one, he turned back toward her only to find she'd curled up on his bed still in her dress and was now sound asleep.

Gary smiled and shook his head as he went over to the bed and carefully brushed her hair away from her face. She was still wearing those pretty but rather dangerous heels, and he reached down to slip them off her feet. She curled her toes in her sleep and snuggled into his pillow, sighing.

It hurt to be so close to her and yet he couldn't bear to move away. He managed to ease the duvet off the end of the bed and covered her with it before going to get changed for bed.

Teeth cleaned and pyjamas on, he returned not even a minute later and weighed his options. They'd shared a bed before after similar parties, and it wasn't weird. Well, normally it wasn't, but after what had happened tonight he wasn't sure how well he would sleep so close to her.

But his head was spinning, he was exhausted, and he needed sleep. He slid under the covers next to her and turned off the light.

Because she was more or less passed out in the middle of his bed, there wasn't a lot of room. Gary hesitated for a moment before moving onto his side to face her. Her breath tickled his face every few seconds and after a moment he curled his arm over her waist and kissed her on the forehead. She didn't wake, and he rolled back onto his other side away from her. She wasn't his girlfriend; it wasn't his place to hold her as she slept even though he so desperately longed to.

The seconds stretched into minutes and he still couldn't fall asleep.

Her hand suddenly landed on his side, sliding up over his ribcage and onto his chest. He froze, heart leaping into his throat and he didn't dare to breathe. Was she awake?

She mumbled something incoherent against the back of his neck as she wrapped her arm around him, and he knew she was still sleeping. And yet somehow, she was still drawn to him. Foolishly he thought it was maybe because she had similar feelings for him but he knew it wasn't true. The kiss had been drunken, clumsy, and yet it had affected him so much that he still couldn't believe it had actually happened.

Her breathing was slow and even, while his felt like he couldn't quite catch it. Not with her playing the big spoon, legs tangled around his and her fingers curling into the front of his t-shirt. He could feel every glorious curve of her body against him and he closed his eyes tight and tried to think of anything other than the fact that she was in his bed clinging to him like a koala bear. That her breath was caressing his skin and he could smell her faded perfume still lingering.

He found himself replaying his words over and over in his head in an attempt to distract him from his physical reaction to her close proximity. He was angry at himself for being so impulsive when they both were obviously not themselves. What if things hadn't stopped with just a kiss? What if they'd ended up sleeping together, and not in the way they were now, fully clothed. No, it was for the best that she'd fallen asleep. At least they had kissed. He finally knew how it felt to kiss her. And the downside was that he wanted to do it again, and again. He'd thought of it so many times. Pity that alcohol had been the courage he'd needed instead of using his own. They needed to talk about it in the morning, he knew that much.

Miranda was peacefully sleeping but he ended up laying there awake all night, unable to relax long enough to fall asleep. He listened to her breathing, the clock ticking, and watched the shadows move across the bedroom as the sun at last came up.

When he could no longer keep his eyes open, he managed to slip out of her embrace although he absolutely hated to do it. Her grip on his shirt had loosened during the night and her hand fell gently onto the bed as he got up and padded out of the bedroom.

He collapsed onto the sofa, the same sofa he'd kissed her on hours ago, and was asleep within seconds.

It was much later when he opened his eyes at the sound of movement in the kitchen. Miranda was raiding his cupboards, wearing one of his jumpers over her dress. She was barefoot, her shoes no doubt ready to go into the bin after her difficulty the night before.

He sat up, trying to ignore the throbbing in his head as he did.

"Morning," he managed, and she jumped slightly, startled.

"Morning! Sorry, I was just going to make coffee. I feel like I've been caught in a stamped of feral wildebeest or something equally painful." She winced and rubbed her temples.

"Right, coffee," he said, stretching quickly before getting to his feet and walking over to help her. As he reached past her for the coffee pot, he couldn't help but comment: "Nice jumper."

She blushed and started to take it off.

"Soz, I was cold. It's like an igloo in your room."

"It's okay, you can wear it. It looks better on you, anyway." He said it without thinking and saw her still for a moment, her expression unreadable. It was no doubt because she was hungover, he thought, and quickly set out about making coffee.

"Last night was fun, yeah?" she interrupted his thoughts as she pulled two mugs from the cupboard.

"Yeah, it was great to see everyone after winter break," he agreed.

She held out her mug for him to fill, cupping both hands around it afterwards to warm them.

"So, um, you drank a lot last night. I was a bit worried about you," Gary said quietly, wondering how best to bring up the subject of the kiss.

Miranda took a drink from her mug.

"I could say the same about you! You looked like you were having fun when I saw you. I regret to tell you your dancing is still terrible," she teased, her tired eyes with a hint of mischief in them.

"I was just stealing your moves."

They smiled at one another before he took a deep breath.

"Look, Miranda, I don't want things to go all weird between us after last night."

Miranda blushed again before clucking her tongue softly. "Oh, you mean because we kissed?"

How was she so calm about it? She'd been in his lap with her tongue in his mouth, and she was talking about it like it hadn't mattered. Maybe it didn't. Maybe it didn't mean anything to her at all. But that wasn't Miranda. She wasn't cruel. She wouldn't kiss someone just to kiss them.

"Well, yeah. I mean…"

She held up her hand to stop him.

"So we kissed. I kissed everyone last night. It doesn't really mean anything, Gary! It's just what you do at midnight. It doesn't need to become weird between us, stop worrying. You're allowed to kiss your mates for the New Year."

The pounding in his head intensified, but it was nothing compared to the pounding in his heart.

She didn't even remember the kiss. _That_ kiss. Her alcohol-addled mind had erased the memory of it. He wasn't so lucky. He could still remember the taste of her lips, of champagne and her lip gloss and chocolate.

She remembered nothing.

He had woken up with at least a sliver of hope that the kiss would be the means to try telling her once more what she meant to him.

He swallowed, trying to stay calm even though inside he was screaming in frustration. They had been so close.

"Yeah, I was going to say the same thing. Just got caught up in the moment, yeah?"

Miranda finished her first cup of coffee and as she moved past him to refill her mug she bumped her shoulder against his.

"Good, cos this? Would never work. You're my best friend. It'd be too weird if we snogged for real. Can you imagine?"

Yeah, he could. And he knew exactly how it felt, he didn't need to imagine.

He just nodded and turned back to his coffee. After a moment he looked down at his watch for the time.

"I'll walk you home after breakfast. Did you want to shower, or…" He trailed off.

"Oh, that sounds nice, actually. Can't believe I actually slept in a dress!" She smoothed the wrinkles out of her skirt and looked to be considering it. "Oh, but Stevie and the girls are probably waiting for me. I really should go before they send a search party. Walk me home, though?"

He nodded then went into the bedroom to dress. When he emerged he brought her shoes with him, and she cringed at the sight of them.

"Worst idea ever. Can't believe I let Stevie talk me into buying them. Why do I need to be even taller than I already am? Why would anyone?" She sat down at the kitchen table to put them back on. He was about to protest that she even wear them but she was hopelessly determined. And apparently feeling more steady when sober. Still, he was careful to stay close to her as they left his flat.

As they stepped outside, the chilly air felt refreshing. Well, as refreshing at it could be to someone with a hangover.

She stumbled against him and he immediately grabbed her arm. "You okay?"

"Nobody saw that, right?"

"Just me."

She took his hand and his heart beat a little faster.

"You're my safety net. If I fall, you better catch me or I'll take you with me!"

Gary grinned and squeezed her hand back before they started walking again. She only lived one road over in a flat she shared with Stevie and two other girls in their year.

He walked her up to the front floor of the building; as soon as they were inside she reached down, yanked off her heels, and dumped them in the bin in the corner.

"Never again."

Without them on, he once again had the height advantage over her. She seemed relieved things were back to normal.

"Thanks for walking me home. And for inviting me last night. It was so much fun. I can't believe it's the last New Years we'll celebrate together."

She unlocked the door to her flat and he could hear Stevie calling her name.

"Miranda, I—"

Suddenly Stevie was bouncing over to them, grabbing Miranda's arm.

"Hi Gary! Soz, I just need to borrow Miranda for a bit."

"Bit of an interrogation, more like," Miranda said, her eyes wide and pleading. "Help!" she mouthed at him, and he laughed.

"See you in class on Tuesday?" he asked.

"Of course! I'll even take notes this time, but you owe me."

"I'll make you dinner," he offered, then realised how it sounded. Miranda didn't seem to notice.

"Great, it's a date, then!" She suddenly pushed Stevie away from her and onto the ground before pulling off his jumper.

"Thanks for the loan," she said as she handed it to him. It felt warm from being worn. He tucked it under his arm and smiled back at her.

"Happy New Year, Gary," she said, and leaned in to hug him quickly. He held her close before she pulled away.

"Happy New Year, Miranda."

Stevie cleared her throat as they parted.

"And to you, too, Stevie."


End file.
